How to contribute to Free and Open Source Software

by William Weber Berrutti

Friday 24 Jul 2026, 20:00 → 21:30 Europe/Zurich

Online

Have you ever wondered how you could contribute to an open source application you enjoy using?

In this course, you'll learn how to contribute to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects and, consequently, to the movement. Therefore, you'll be part of a global community that develops technologies for the common good and help shape the world to a better digital place!  

But what is Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)?  

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is a kind of software that respects user rights, by allowing them to freely run, study, copy and modify the software, and it includes these benefits:

• It creates learning opportunities, since the source code is open and can be modified and used freely
• It encourages community and personal development, since this kind of software can help people learn how technology works and help communities
• It fosters economic growth by not having increasingly expensive licenses, having the possibility to be reused in other projects instead of creating softwares from the ground up, and giving unique professional opportunities
• It stimulates societal advancement by preserving digital sovereignty and making technology enjoyable to use, contribute and learn, attracting talent

This differs from proprietary software, where you can't freely run, study, copy and modify the software. This impedes proper societal progress and many times have harmful design patterns, like applications made to be addictive and encouraging conflicts among their users in the name of profit, trackers that harm users' digital privacy and lack of open standards so people are dependent of these technologies.  

In this session, I'll show how anyone can contribute to FOSS, having technical specialization or not.  

Prerequisites:

None  

Why am I teaching this course?

Because I'd like to encourage people to contribute to a more healthy digital life for themselves and for the people around the world.  

Who am I?

I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).  I'm a Free and Open Source Software and Data Privacy Apologist, Linux SysAdmin, Software Developer, Documenter and Mentor.  I work on installing, managing, configuring and developing software systems, and educating people about science, technology and society, considering Free and Open Source Software to have digital sovereignty. 

 

The Turing Way Community, & Scriberia. (2020, March 3). Illustrations from the Turing Way book dashes. Zenodo. The Turing Way Community & Scriberia (2024).